10 calls - 10 messages

As a Realtor here in middle Tn I have run into what seems to be a growing problem among agents. NOT ANSWERING PHONE CALLS OR RETURNING MESSAGES!

Before I get started, let me back up. Signing up for a real estate career means sort of making your life more available than most. It's just the way it is. Anything otherwise would be like saying that you wanted to become a doctor but never have to see blood. It's just not going to happen. In fact, a while ago I was getting at least 2-3 sales calls PER DAY. Sometimes at night. I even have my phone number on the DNC list. When I asked one of the sales callers how they could call me, they told me "your telephone number is public". I thought to myself, "that's exactly right". There isn't much to argue about that. Not only is it public, but in most circumstances I WANT PEOPLE TO CALL!

It seems however that many other agents didn't get the memo. Just a couple weeks ago I showed a listing in which my buyer was very interested in. In fact, she wanted to go see it again a couple hours later. She was in that moment of excitement that only goes down over time. I called the agent 5x and text her. My messages said something to the effect of, "My buyer is considering making an offer on your listing but wants to do one more walkthrough today". That was 3 weeks ago and my buyer is about to close.... on another house. The agent NEVER called or text me back.

As the title says "10 calls - 10 messages" - I made that many calls this morning to 10 different agents and not one answered and not one has called me back.

Now, like many posts, there are both sides of the argument. I know that "we" as agents cannot let our phone control us. We cannot allow it to interfere with family time etc. BUT this is what we signed up for. If you don't like "being available" then go into another profession. It really makes it difficult for those who love their job!

You have touched a nerve with me here. I agree one hundred percent, and I think the customers may be part of the problem. It seems that a few agents end up with most of the listings, so they aren't really that motivated to answer the phone when they may be in a listing appointment, or just playing golf. They don't care, they have 30 to 50 listings, and one or two phone calls aren't going to make that big of a difference to them.

As far as people trying to sell something to me (usually google placement or leads), they get one shot, and then they end up on my do not answer contact list. I have 19 at this time in my phone.

Thanks for the comments. Since this blog I am still waiting (of course trying to call myself) on returned phone calls from these agents! If only we could alert the sellers. I think our business would double!

Featured Listings

Disclaimer: ActiveRain, Inc. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site.
These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them
make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles,
that are written by the members of this community.